Unleashing the Watchdog in the Club Room
By Bryan Gardiner
Asking questions during a seminar
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Investigative reporting and watchdog journalism are the keys to survival for traditional media, because no blogger or streaming video site can compete with this kind of high-quality, original content.
That was the message from Rick Rodriguez, editor of the Sacramento Bee and newly appointed president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE), who gave a dinner keynote presentation called “Unleashing the Watchdog,” as part of the Western Knight Center’s seminar “Going Beyond the Agenda: Investigating Local Government.”
Rodriguez insisted that, now more then ever, cultivating a watchdog culture in the newsroom should be a primary concern for journalists and editors alike. “Few things can get us more excited than a great news story and the pursuit of it.”
Nothing is more unique than an investigation, Rodriguez said. It can’t be copied or pilfered by other news outlets and there is a general reluctance to steal investigative pieces.
“It’s something that departs from what we top editors have been talking about lately, which is generally how to connect with communities, or how to do marketing, or how to reach young readers.”
Rodriguez recalled he was first “bitten by the journalism bug” in eighth grade, making the transition from working in a tortilla factory to earning 10 cents an hour as a copy boy for a local paper in Salinas.
Journalism today needs more fire, more sense of purpose, Rodriguez said, because many in the news business seem to feel that they can’t do the type of journalism they want to – complaining that they either don’t have the time or don’t have the resources.
“I spent many years beating my head against the wall saying, ‘I need more people, I need more time,’ ” Rodriguez said.
Finally, he came to the realization that he was never going to get everything he needed, but, that as an editor, he did have control over many things.
“We have the resources,” Rodriguez said. “We just need to make [watchdog journalism] a priority.”
He told the gathered crowd of journalists that “you control your own stories; you control how you work your beat, whether or not you do agenda journalism or go beyond that.”
But with all the high-mindedness and potential glory of watchdog journalism, there also exist some serious pitfalls.
Many reporters use “questionable tactics,” such as relying too heavily on anonymous sources to get their stories. These tactics often result in an environment where journalists can’t publicly defend themselves when questioned.
Rodriguez said he’d go to bat for his reporters as long as they can prove they were thorough and discerning about how they used their sources.
He challenged those in attendance to use anonymous sources sparingly, and “only when it is approved by other editors.”
“[Using anonymous sources] costs our industry dearly, in terms of credibility,” Rodriguez said. “If you’re going to do watchdog journalism, if you’re going to do investigative work and you’re going to use anonymous sources, talk them over with your editor,” he said. “Ask yourself what is the reason for using this source.”
In the end, Rodriguez said that the use of anonymous sources doesn’t provide the public with any kind of real insight.
“Most of those quotes are self-serving and part of a bigger spin machine,” Rodriguez said.
Watchdog journalism is a huge opportunity for newspapers to connect with their audiences because at the local level “the best investigative reporting still comes off of beats,” Rodriguez said.
He related an ongoing story the Bee was covering about firefighters in Sacramento cruising to bars in their fire trucks while on duty. Some of the firefighters were picking up women and making out with them in the trucks while others stood lookout. Another time, during an event called “The Porn Ball,” held at a local hotel, a bunch of fire trucks showed up. Firefighters were taking pictures with the porn stars and one of them thought it would be a good idea to take a porn star out into the cab of one of the trucks.
“A lawsuit was later filed by this woman,” Rodriguez said. “She claimed she had been groped.”
Many of the firefighters were disciplined as a result of the stories and the fire department is still working to implement needed reforms.
This ongoing story and others are the result of really good beat work, Rodriguez said.
“You’re sitting back twenty years later, and you’re wondering what impact your words, your investigations have had on people…and they do,” he said. “Even though you might not know it at the time, our work is still vital, still notable. Words and emotions can be stirred in a way that still has impact.”
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